Author: Henriquez, Cristina.
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages:426
ONE OF TIME'S MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2024 An epic novel about the construction of the Panama Canal, casting light on the unsung people who lived, loved, and labored there, by Cristina Henríquez, acclaimed author of The Book of Unknown Americans It's 1907, and it’s said that the Panama Canal will be the greatest engineering feat the world has ever seen. Enthusiasm is running high among locals and foreigners alike, but so is uncertainty. Cutting a continent in two won’t be easy, and no one can anticipate the consequences for the country and its people. The Great Divide reimagines this feat from a new POV: that of those who sacrificed everything for the Canal. Francisco, a veteran fisherman who opposes the construction; his son Omar, who works on it under inhumane conditions; Ada Bunting, a fearless young woman from Barbados in search of opportunities; John Oswald, a scientist fighting malaria, and his wife Marian, are some of the characters who gather here to tell their own version of this story. A complex and nuanced one, often left out of the history books.